Dave Smith

With .006 remaining in regulation and the game tied at 88, announcers Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson warned the Lakers to watch out for a lob to Dwight Howard; who can grab just about anything near the rim and finish….

But as the ball was inbounded, Howard instead set a backpick on Kobe Bryant for teammate Courtney Lee, who raced for the basket. As the ball floated toward the hoop, a gasp went through Staples Center; as the fans watched in horror as Lee seemed to have a wide open layup….

The hell with the fans, a guy named Dave Smith nearly had a stroke as the Lakers were moments away from losing home court advantage….

As Lee caught the ball, Pao Gasol desperately ran toward the basket and leaped into the air. When Lee grabbed the pass, he laid the ball up and in….

Wait, he missed!….

You talk about lucky, Phil Jackson must have had a four leafed clover and a rabbit’s foot in his coat pocket….

Predictably the Lakers went on to win in overtime, 101-96, but you have to feel sorry for Lee, who will be forever remebered for his blown lay-up….

And now the Lakers have a 2-0 stranglehold on the series, which means the Magic need to win four out of five to win. Not likely….

Unless, of course, you believe Gasol should have been called for goaltending. I know the play happened quickly and Lee would have missed the shot anyway, but Gasol did touch the net and the rim while the ball banked off thhe glass; technically a goal tend….

I know nobody will bring this up, except for Jeff Van Gundy, but I’m sure the newscasts in Orlando will feature the play prominentlly….

The bottom line, however, is the shot would have missed anyway and the officials are not going to make that call in that situation….

Now for my thoughts on the game….

Once again, the old bugaboo of not defending the three-point line and poor rotations nearly did in the Lakers….

Since the strategy of sticking on the shooters and not doubling Howard worked so well in Game One, why did the Zenmaster choose to run doubles at Superman in Game Two? All it did was open the floor for Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, who went 9-18 behind the arc…

Every time Howard got the ball down low, the double team came, Dwight passed the ball back out and the Magic would put three on the board….

The strategy was stupid, the rotations horrible, the close outs a second late and the communication non-existent….

Other than that, I liked the strategy….

Thank God Howard doesn’t know how to play and tried to force things in the final minutes, because otherwise the Lakers are in trouble….

Three or four times Superman put the ball on the floor, failed to kick the ball back out and turned it over….

Yes, Howard had 17 points and 16 rebounds, but it’s all overwhelming ability which gets it done for him. If he ever develops a basic understanding of the game, they might have to shut down the league….

The Magic also can’t win with a starting backcourt of Rafer Alston and Lee. Not only are they small, they don’t make plays on either end of the floor….

How good was Lamar Odom and has he finally arrived as a guy who makes big plays in big games? I know we’ve all been teased before, but now he’s doing it on the NBA’s biggest stage….

for my money, Odom was the player-of-the-game….

He shot 8-9 from the floor, played 46 minutes, grabbed eight rebounds and played effective defense….

Well, except for that three he allowed to Lewis with the Lakers holding a three-point lead in overtime and 24 seconds remaining….

How he could let Lewis catch the ball and shoot a three was inexplicable. Just allow Lewis to catch the ball anywhere but behind the arc….

Gasol was also effective, scoring 24 points with 10 rebounds. He also did as well as could be expected on Superman….

Sure, we can complain all we want about the Lakers poor play, but the bottom line is they are two wins away from World Championship number 15….

And with their youth, they might just run off a few more….

I’d like to see what’s going on at Red Auerbach’s grave right now, because the old coot is probably not happy. He always detested Phil and believed he was simply the beneficiary of great talent; so he can’t be thrilled that the Zenmaster is on the verge of eclipsing Auerbach’s record of nine championships….

So now it’s on to Game three on tuesday night, with the weight of the world squarely on the shoulders of the Magic. If they don’t sweep all three, they can’t win. and if they lose tomorrow night they’re going to get swept….

Good luck….

Seems like only yesterday the Lakers were getting their tails kicked by the Celtics, doesn’t it? Even without Andrew Bynum and with Trevor Ariza hurt, most experts (including your beloved leader) picked the Lakers to win….

But alas, the soft Lakers front line was exposed and Boston closed out the Lakers in Game 6 by an embarrassing 131-92 count. The three Hall-of-Famers were too much and the limp wristed Lakers were shoved all over the court….

Which brings us to this year, where the Lakers will once again attempt to bring the franchise their 15th World Championship; this time against the Orlando Magic….

Despite last season’s debacle, I’m going with the Lakers again, for the following reasons:

-Yes, the Magic are talented and fun to watch, but not nearly as good as last year’s Celtics. Yes, Dwight Howard is a future Hall-of-Famer, but nobody else on the team will join him. Add to this the adition of Bynum and a healthy Ariza and it looks good for the purple-and-gold.

-While the Cavaliers were undersized, slow and couldn’t deal with Howard, the Lakers length and athleticism will be huge.. With Bynum, Pao Gasol and Lamar Odom, the Lakers have three long, versatile players to play Howard. Sure, they won’t stop him, but it won’t be as easy for Superman as it was against Cleveland.

-Cavs coach Mike Brown made a colossal defensive blunder in the Magic series by continually double teaming Howard. With all the shooters Stan Van Gundy has surrounded Dwight with, it’s suicide to allow Orlando to shoot unguarded three-point shots. Howard has really become a good passer out of the post and picked apart Brown’s defense.

-Continuing that point, Phil Jackson should play Howard straight up and stay on the shooters. Sure, this will mean big numbers for Howard and foul trouble for Bynum, but if Dwight gets his 25 &15 and the shooters are guarded, the Magic can’t win. The Lakers are the worst team in tne league defending the three-point line, and the last thing you want ot do against Orlando is get caught scrambling and arriving late on the shooters.

Thats why I like the Lakers in six….

Now, here’s how the Magic can win:

-Phil stupidly double teams Howard and Orlando rains three-pointers down the entire series. With the Lakers three-point defense terrible and their rotations awful, the Magic win the series.

-Jameer Nelson killed the Lakers in the Magic’s two wins over the Lakers this season, doing whatever he wanted against Derek Fisher in the Magic’s pick-and-roll offense. Even if Nelson doesn’t play, Fisher can’t guard Rafer Alston, either. Fisher’s lack of foot speed will be exploited by Van Gundy.

-With the entire off season to rest, Jackson can’t get cute with his substitution patterns. Shorten the rotations and keep your best players on the floor. Extended minutes for the second unit could be disastrous.

-In his last two finals, The Zenmaster has been badly outcoached by Larry Brown and Doc Rivers. Since Van Gundy has emerged as one of the NBA’s best coaches, who’s to say it can’t happen again?

But all-in-all, I’m sticking with the Lakers in six…..